LAFC rallies to beat Impact despite Ignacio Piatti hat trick

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:31 am

LAFC rallied from two goals down in the second half to win an eight-goal thriller 5-3 at the 10-man Montreal Impact on Saturday.

Ignacio Piatti recorded a hat trick before halftime for Montreal, but Victor Cabrera's 31st-minute red card allowed LAFC to rally.

Piatti slammed home the opener on nine minutes after Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush punched a cross into his path, then drew a penalty soon afterward and coverted from the spot for his 50th MLS goal.

Laurent Ciman, making his return to the Stade Saputo after playing three years for Montreal, then got a goal back for LAFC with a stupendous free kick from 30 yards out.

It got worse for the hosts as Cabrera was sent off for bringing down Marco Urena in the box, but Bush stopped Carlos Vela's penalty.

Montreal were still able to add to its lead when Piatti volleyed in a third goal from a long pass forward, but the second half belonged to LAFC.

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Benny Feilhaber cut the deficit to one after Montreal failed to clear the ball in the box, and a Jukka Raitala own goal after a corner in the 57th minute leveled the score.

Given a second penalty after Diego Rossi drew a foul in the 83rd minute, Vela beat Bush to put LAFC ahead, and Latif Blessing tapped in a fifth with a minute to play after Bush spilled a low shot.

Piatti nearly had a fourth goal in stoppage time by hitting the crossbar with a lob from 40 yards out, but the Impact fell to their third loss in a row and have five defeats in the first seven games of the season.

The win was LAFC's second straight in Canada after last week's 2-0 win at Vancouver and pulled the expansion team into second place in the Western Conference with 12 points from six games.

With 16 goals this season, LAFC has scored two more than any other expansion team through six games, beating Atlanta United's mark last year and Bob Bradley's Chicago Fire in 1998.